0:00:04 > 0:00:08On 29th May 1660,
0:00:08 > 0:00:13King Charles II returned from exile to reclaim his throne.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17Everyone believed the Stuart dynasty had lost power forever.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21His father Charles I had been publicly executed
0:00:21 > 0:00:26only ten years previously, and England had been firmly in the grip
0:00:26 > 0:00:29of Oliver Cromwell's commonwealth.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33But now the monarchy was back in business.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36The Restoration was a turning point in British history.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40It marked the end of the medieval and the beginning of the modern age.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44It affected the life of every single person in the country.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47In this series,
0:00:47 > 0:00:51I'm looking at the lives of women in the late 17th century.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53This is a really exciting time to be a woman.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57For centuries, they'd been lurking about in the footnotes
0:00:57 > 0:01:00of history, but now they come to prominence.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03Some of them have such modern attitudes and ambitions
0:01:03 > 0:01:05and we see them coming up against a world
0:01:05 > 0:01:08that was still pretty male and misogynistic.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13Over three programmes, I'm exploring their lives at the lavish
0:01:13 > 0:01:15and liberated Royal Court...
0:01:15 > 0:01:19The King, without a doubt, would have been completely delighted.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22- If all my clothes had suddenly fallen off?- Yes, I'm sure he would.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26..at home, behind closed doors,
0:01:26 > 0:01:30and in public, at work and play.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34She dominated the theatre. She had more plays put on than anybody.
0:01:34 > 0:01:35Not any woman. Any man.
0:01:35 > 0:01:40You might have thought that Britain was swinging in the 1960s,
0:01:40 > 0:01:45but it was the 1660s that really shook things up.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58In this first programme, I'm going to meet
0:01:58 > 0:02:04the women at the top of the tree at Charles II's court.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08These women were intimately connected with the King.
0:02:08 > 0:02:13They would experience the most immediate and profound effects of the Restoration.
0:02:16 > 0:02:21Charles II's Restoration was really an extraordinary turn of events,
0:02:21 > 0:02:24but his return to the throne wasn't going to be a simple return to the past.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26While he'd been in exile on the continent,
0:02:26 > 0:02:28he'd learnt lots of new ideas
0:02:28 > 0:02:31and he came back with a new kind of court.
0:02:31 > 0:02:34It was more lavish, but also more debauched
0:02:34 > 0:02:37and more licentious than ever before.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40At it, women would take a new prominence.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44They could now win celebrity and wealth and influence.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46It sounds quite recognisably modern,
0:02:46 > 0:02:50but this was a dangerous game to play for women because,
0:02:50 > 0:02:53to get to the top at the court of Charles II,
0:02:53 > 0:02:56the quickest way was to become a royal mistress.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58And, for me, the big question is,
0:02:58 > 0:03:04was this female empowerment or was it just a new form of exploitation?
0:03:18 > 0:03:23I'm starting out at one of England's most impressive historic houses,
0:03:23 > 0:03:27Althorp in Northamptonshire.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30Today, Althorp is still famous for its royal links
0:03:30 > 0:03:35as the childhood home of Lady Diana Spencer, later Princess of Wales.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40But its regal connections go back much further.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43In the 17th century, it was the owners of grand houses like this
0:03:43 > 0:03:46who populated the Royal Court.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49The portraits on its walls bring us
0:03:49 > 0:03:54face to face with all the great and the good of the Restoration.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58And what's remarkable is the number of women included,
0:03:58 > 0:04:02many of them mistresses of Charles II.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08So here Charles is.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10A very human, human being
0:04:10 > 0:04:14with all of his weaknesses and frailties and lusts,
0:04:14 > 0:04:16the biggest of which was his lust for women.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20By the time he came back from his exile on the continent,
0:04:20 > 0:04:22he'd already had seven mistresses.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25The total would reach 13 by the end of his life.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29He also had 13 illegitimate children that he acknowledged.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31There may even have been others.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34He's positioned here on the wall
0:04:34 > 0:04:38and he's ogling this bevy of court beauties over here.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40This is Barbara.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42She's definitely the top mistress
0:04:42 > 0:04:44during the early part of Charles' reign.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46Trounces all the opposition.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48She gives him five children,
0:04:48 > 0:04:51not withstanding the fact that she actually has a husband.
0:04:51 > 0:04:52Charles loves these children.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55He goes and tucks them up into their beds at night
0:04:55 > 0:05:00and he rewards her with power and riches and celebrity,
0:05:00 > 0:05:02but this is the opposition to Barbara.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05Louise, the French Louise de Kerouaille,
0:05:05 > 0:05:07who comes up and challenges her.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09She's the younger, sexier model.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12She, too, gives the King a baby,
0:05:12 > 0:05:16and he rewards both of them with the highest rank that there is -
0:05:16 > 0:05:18the title of Duchess.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22The Restoration mistress was entirely new.
0:05:22 > 0:05:26Charles' women weren't just fly-by-night party girls.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28They would achieve independent wealth,
0:05:28 > 0:05:31dictate fashion and win celebrity.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37They'd even change the shape of contemporary politics
0:05:37 > 0:05:40and the way that the masses thought about their monarch.
0:05:43 > 0:05:48Barbara Villiers was the first and greatest Restoration mistress.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53She'd become one of the most powerful people in the country
0:05:53 > 0:05:59and a trailblazer for these new-style mistresses of a modern age.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06Barbara was born into the Villiers family.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10Now, some of the Villiers were very grand indeed, dukes and so on,
0:06:10 > 0:06:12but she came from an impoverished branch,
0:06:12 > 0:06:16but nevertheless, very well established and very respectable.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19This is her marital home and this is very respectable too,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22although it's not a palace and, to be honest, Tudor architecture
0:06:22 > 0:06:26like this was looking a bit old-fashioned by the Restoration.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32But in 1659, Barbara, then just 18, would escape the boredom
0:06:32 > 0:06:35of a middle-ranking marriage in a provincial pile,
0:06:35 > 0:06:39when she was charged with a mission of national importance -
0:06:39 > 0:06:40to go to Europe
0:06:40 > 0:06:44to tell the exiled King that the time was ripe for his return.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50She was chosen because she was beautiful, intelligent
0:06:50 > 0:06:54and was married to one of Charles' most staunch supporters.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58But most importantly of all, she'd survived the smallpox.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02She was lucky to remain unscarred and, of course, she was now immune.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07With smallpox sweeping the continent,
0:07:07 > 0:07:11she was the only one of Charles' followers who could safely be sent.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15Within days of their meeting, the two of them were smitten with love.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22Barbara would now go shooting up into the social stratosphere
0:07:22 > 0:07:25because of her relationship with the King,
0:07:25 > 0:07:30rather leaving behind her husband. This was challenging for him.
0:07:30 > 0:07:3317th-century men did not expect to be eclipsed by their wives.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39This is Barbara's long-suffering husband, Roger Palmer.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41He'd lent the King money during the Restoration,
0:07:41 > 0:07:43helped him get back on the throne
0:07:43 > 0:07:46and he could have expected a reward.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49Instead, the King steals his wife. Roger is humiliated.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52He does at least get a title.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55He's made Earl of Castlemaine by way of compensation,
0:07:55 > 0:07:57but even this is tainted.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00It comes with the proviso that it will be inherited
0:08:00 > 0:08:03by Barbara's illegitimate children with the King.
0:08:03 > 0:08:04Poor old Roger.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06He hasn't got a proper chin anyway!
0:08:06 > 0:08:10Until now, a woman's title, position and prosperity
0:08:10 > 0:08:14had all been determined by her husband.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18Only as a widow could she have independent wealth and status,
0:08:18 > 0:08:23but there's no doubt who was the boss in the Palmer household.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25Barbara's rise reflected a wider movement
0:08:25 > 0:08:28from the medieval to the modern.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30Her success is all the more extraordinary
0:08:30 > 0:08:34if you compare it to a woman's expectations in the recent past.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41WHISPERS: First of all there is this.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43That's is going to go like this.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46There are little strings to tie this up.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55For nearly ten years before the Restoration,
0:08:55 > 0:08:59England had been governed by a puritan, Oliver Cromwell,
0:08:59 > 0:09:02an intensely religious manic depressive
0:09:02 > 0:09:06with strict moral views about hard work and piety.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09Are you covering up my hair, cos it's dangerously sexy.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15Fun and frivolities like gambling, the theatre and sports
0:09:15 > 0:09:16had been banned.
0:09:16 > 0:09:21Even the way men and women dressed was under stern scrutiny.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Puritan leaders and soldiers had roamed the streets
0:09:25 > 0:09:28making sure women's hair was covered up.
0:09:28 > 0:09:34So am I dressed like a proper puritan lady of the 1650s now?
0:09:34 > 0:09:36You are a perfectly turned out puritan lady.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39Very, very proper and very demure.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42And would my parish priest have approved of this get-up?
0:09:42 > 0:09:45He would have been delighted to have seen you like this and,
0:09:45 > 0:09:47in fact, he would have been even more delighted
0:09:47 > 0:09:49if ALL the women were dressed just like you.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53There's no hair showing at all. No skin, no flesh.
0:09:53 > 0:09:54No skin, no flesh.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57Everything is all very demure.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59It makes me feel very submissive.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01I feel like I'm in a uniform.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03You couldn't tell me apart from another puritan lady.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07But I'll tell you what I think is positive about this outfit.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09It feels warm.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13It's really thick, woolly stuff and also there's quite a lot of legroom.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16I feel like I could do a bit of ninja kicking if I want to.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18There's plenty of volume to it,
0:10:18 > 0:10:22but I can't imagine going to a party dressed like this.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25I don't think you would be out there partying all night.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29I can imagine you sitting there reading and, in fact,
0:10:29 > 0:10:33this is a decade that actually saw women as businesswomen,
0:10:33 > 0:10:38actually taking on the responsibility of family finances and so on,
0:10:38 > 0:10:40and actually doing it very, very well indeed.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44But the lack of parties is all going to change, isn't it?
0:10:44 > 0:10:48The 1660s saw the beginning of a very different world.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50Let's have a look at that one.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59Now I'm going to be a court lady of the 1660s.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03But it's not a proper gown, this, is it?
0:11:03 > 0:11:08No, this is little more than just a negligee.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11Basically, I'm wearing my underwear here.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13You are wearing your underwear.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15Now, in contrast to the other one,
0:11:15 > 0:11:18it feels decadent and luxurious
0:11:18 > 0:11:24and it also feels like it could quite easily just sort of fall off.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27Well, I think that's most of the point, actually. It probably could.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29And if the King were to suddenly appear,
0:11:29 > 0:11:33that would be exactly what both of us would hope to happen, I guess?
0:11:33 > 0:11:37The King, without a doubt, would have been completely delighted.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39- If all my clothes had suddenly fallen off?- Yes, I'm sure he would.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44Wanting all your clothes to fall off in order to get ahead
0:11:44 > 0:11:47is hardly the ultimate expression of girl power.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50But for the Restoration mistress,
0:11:50 > 0:11:53it wasn't a straightforward matter of male exploitation.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57For the first time, some women were taking some control for themselves.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03For centuries, it had been pretty much expected that a man would have
0:12:03 > 0:12:06his wife for bearing his children and a mistress for pleasure.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10What was new in the 1660s was a sense that it was becoming
0:12:10 > 0:12:13more socially acceptable to be a mistress.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16It was almost a matter of a positive career choice.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20This woman, Catherine Sedley, for example, was independently wealthy.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24She could have made a good marriage, but she chose instead to be
0:12:24 > 0:12:28a mistress of James, Duke of York, the future James II.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31She also went about it in an unconventional way.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34People at the time didn't think that she was very good-looking at all,
0:12:34 > 0:12:37so it was said she won him not through her beauty,
0:12:37 > 0:12:40but through her wit and her brains.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46The career mistress was something completely new.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49The country had never seen anything like it.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55But Charles and his Royal Court had done.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58They'd spent ten years in exile on the continent
0:12:58 > 0:13:01where women not only played a prominent role at court,
0:13:01 > 0:13:03but gained respect for it.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11We've got Charles II in France for a good bit of his exile.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13And there's a kind of idea that he learns how to have
0:13:13 > 0:13:16mistresses in France - cos that's what French people do,
0:13:16 > 0:13:19they have lots of mistresses - is this fair or not?
0:13:19 > 0:13:22I think he was learning this new ethos and practice,
0:13:22 > 0:13:25which is a sort of big deal in the 1650s in France,
0:13:25 > 0:13:28that's known as gallantry, a highly codified way
0:13:28 > 0:13:31of thinking about friendship and flirtation.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35On the continent, aristocratic women were debating
0:13:35 > 0:13:39and writing about exactly what they wanted from their relationships
0:13:39 > 0:13:43in a totally new cultural environment - the salon,
0:13:43 > 0:13:47attended by men, but hosted by women.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49One influential novel, Clelia,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52claimed to be authored by Monsieur de Scudery,
0:13:52 > 0:13:56but actually it was written by his sister, a famous salonniere.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58It's an allegorical lesson in love,
0:13:58 > 0:14:02with a route planner to help both men and women on their way -
0:14:02 > 0:14:05the Map Of Tenderness.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08So, these are the little travellers about to go on their journey,
0:14:08 > 0:14:11and they're starting at the city of New Friendship.
0:14:11 > 0:14:17And we pass through pleasing verses, a gallant letter, an amorous letter,
0:14:17 > 0:14:20and after that we get to new forms of emotion
0:14:20 > 0:14:25sincerity, a great heart, honesty, generosity, and so on.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28This seems pretty positive to me, if you're talking about
0:14:28 > 0:14:30a friendship between a man and a woman,
0:14:30 > 0:14:33and they're saying it requires respect and honesty
0:14:33 > 0:14:36and generosity and sincerity...
0:14:36 > 0:14:39Exactly, and they're showing men how to get there.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41So, do you think that some of the time,
0:14:41 > 0:14:43when Charles was playing around with all these women,
0:14:43 > 0:14:46actually he was being gallant towards them?
0:14:46 > 0:14:49He was following this French model of intersexual relationships?
0:14:49 > 0:14:54We tend to think of having mistresses as wild, party-ish behaviour,
0:14:54 > 0:14:58but these kinds of books help us to see that it's a highly codified
0:14:58 > 0:15:01kind of relation, and that it's the sort of relation in which women
0:15:01 > 0:15:05can ask for certain things and expect certain kinds of behaviour.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12At his restoration, Charles returned from exile unmarried,
0:15:12 > 0:15:15but with his new girlfriend, Barbara, on his arm,
0:15:15 > 0:15:19and a pocket full of enlightened, continental ideas.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26His court now showcased a new breed of women
0:15:26 > 0:15:29who thought differently, acted differently
0:15:29 > 0:15:31and looked different too.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34We can see this clearly in their portraits by the Restoration's
0:15:34 > 0:15:38most fashionable court painter, Sir Peter Lely.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42Now, it's a bit of a cliche to say it,
0:15:42 > 0:15:46but really all these women do look a bit like each other, don't they?
0:15:46 > 0:15:47- Is that fair? - I think that's fair.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50You're looking at a look in a modern sense of the word.
0:15:50 > 0:15:531960s, Twiggy,
0:15:53 > 0:15:55a fashion icon, everybody wants to dress like her,
0:15:55 > 0:15:58look like her, be photographed like her.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02And it's the same with Peter Lely portraits in the 1660s court.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05You've got this fashionable artist developing
0:16:05 > 0:16:11a sexy, new look for the 1660s decadent court of Charles II,
0:16:11 > 0:16:13and these are incredibly popular.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16You would get people coming along to Lely's studio saying,
0:16:16 > 0:16:19"I want to look like Barbara Villiers or Elizabeth Hamilton."
0:16:19 > 0:16:21And what are the constituents of the look, then?
0:16:21 > 0:16:24They've all got that sort of sleepy look in the eyes,
0:16:24 > 0:16:27and they're all showing this part of their shoulders, aren't they?
0:16:27 > 0:16:29That must have been an erogenous zone.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31Sexualised, but virtuous.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34This particular portrait is of a women that is getting married,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37probably, around the time this portrait was painted.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39Just at the line of respectability.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43One centimetre lower and she could have been somebody scandalous.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45Absolutely, and I think you can see that in the art
0:16:45 > 0:16:49you can see that in how women had to navigate this world, as well.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53It was an empowering moment, in one respect.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57Beauty was a route towards court positions, court patronage,
0:16:57 > 0:17:00wealth, titles, a good husband...
0:17:01 > 0:17:03But at the same time,
0:17:03 > 0:17:06if you used it too much or if you slept with the wrong people...
0:17:06 > 0:17:09You could end up alone with syphilis.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12At the very least you're going to end up very pregnant and unwanted.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16For the first time, whether you were a mistress or not,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19sexual allure defined the look of an age.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24Many people didn't like it but surprisingly,
0:17:24 > 0:17:28this decadence actually helped Charles to define his own reign.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32It distanced him, not only from Oliver Cromwell,
0:17:32 > 0:17:34but just as importantly, from his father.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40Charles II erected this statue of his dad,
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Charles I, after the Restoration,
0:17:43 > 0:17:46and today it represents the durability of the monarchy,
0:17:46 > 0:17:48it looks like it's been there forever.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51But at the time he erected it, Charles II must have been
0:17:51 > 0:17:55really conscious of how fragile the monarchy could be.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57We're within eyeshot, just down the road, of the spot
0:17:57 > 0:18:00where his father had had his head cut off.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04Charles II was really sensitive to the mistakes his father had made.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06He was keen not to repeat them.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13To make sure he didn't suffer his father's fate,
0:18:13 > 0:18:16Charles had to address a very fundamental problem.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19What did it mean to be a king?
0:18:23 > 0:18:28For centuries, the idea of monarchy had remained unchanged.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32Monarchs were divinely ordained,
0:18:32 > 0:18:34and they didn't have to answer to anyone -
0:18:34 > 0:18:36not to their people, not to Parliament,
0:18:36 > 0:18:38only to God himself.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46So, down at that end we've got the King on his chair of estate,
0:18:46 > 0:18:49and we're standing here. What does this picture say to us?
0:18:49 > 0:18:53It's James I just getting to heaven.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57This picture says kings are appointed by God
0:18:57 > 0:18:58to be answerable to God,
0:18:58 > 0:19:02and that means that if my conscience tells me God is saying something
0:19:02 > 0:19:05my subjects are not saying, I can ignore my subjects.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07High-risk policy.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11Charles I's fundamental belief in his own divinity
0:19:11 > 0:19:15had ultimately led to his execution.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19When Charles II reclaimed the throne on this very spot,
0:19:19 > 0:19:23he understood that a king was ill-advised to use his divinity
0:19:23 > 0:19:26as an excuse to ignore his subjects.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29But at the same time, nobody expected him to behave
0:19:29 > 0:19:32like an ordinary mortal, either.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35After all, his people still expected Charles
0:19:35 > 0:19:37to perform miracles.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40So, at certain times of the day you would have seen Charles II
0:19:40 > 0:19:45doing this weird thing, touching for the King's evil.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48And that meant he was helping people
0:19:48 > 0:19:50with this disease called scrofula. What is scrofula?
0:19:50 > 0:19:53Your skin, especially your head, swells up
0:19:53 > 0:19:57and bursts into suppurating sores - looks ghastly, smells ghastly.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00And the idea was, because he was appointed by God,
0:20:00 > 0:20:02he could cure them with his touch.
0:20:02 > 0:20:03He'd run his hands over them.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06He is healing them by laying on hands.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08He is deliberately imitating Christ.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12In other words, in a very limited way and a very mortal way,
0:20:12 > 0:20:14kings are also sons of God.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19Charles was happy enough to perform his divine duties during the day,
0:20:19 > 0:20:21but he also saw no reason
0:20:21 > 0:20:24that he shouldn't indulge his human desires by night.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30When one of his archbishops begged him
0:20:30 > 0:20:34to stop having girlfriends, Charles replied he couldn't believe
0:20:34 > 0:20:37that God would not forgive a little pleasure on the side.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40And he likes being known as a passionate lover.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43He sounds like a regular bloke.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49So, Charles is full of contradictions.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53Sometimes he is the divine monarch.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56Other times he's just a red-blooded man,
0:20:56 > 0:20:58and it's this mismatch, I believe,
0:20:58 > 0:21:01that allowed the mistresses to rise to prominence.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04Yes, he was still the ultimate source of authority
0:21:04 > 0:21:07and everyone depended on him for their position,
0:21:07 > 0:21:11BUT women like Barbara were able to exploit his human weaknesses.
0:21:11 > 0:21:16She could hope to win as much power as any male government minister.
0:21:17 > 0:21:22A royal mistress like Barbara could take on the political establishment,
0:21:22 > 0:21:24but she also had to fight an even greater battle.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30In 1661, Charles did the right royal thing and got married
0:21:30 > 0:21:34to a Portuguese Princess, Catherine of Braganza.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39How would Barbara manage now that she was up against
0:21:39 > 0:21:44a far more formidable opponent - a wife. What's more, a queen.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49There's a very good reason that these three are hung like this.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52We have the King, we have his wife, and we have the mistress,
0:21:52 > 0:21:54all three of them together.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57It's almost as if he's got a lady on each arm.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01This is Catherine of Braganza as she was at about 22
0:22:01 > 0:22:05when she turned up from Portugal, though she looks younger.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09And these strange Portuguese dresses that she wore caused
0:22:09 > 0:22:12a lot of consternation at court. People found them very odd indeed.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15Also, this strange sort of cowlick she's got on her forehead.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18And because she was always in black, the King said,
0:22:18 > 0:22:21"You've brought me a bat! What am I going to do with her?"
0:22:21 > 0:22:23She looks like a little goody-goody.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29Over here, by terrific contrast, my goodness,
0:22:29 > 0:22:33it looks at first like this is a religious image,
0:22:33 > 0:22:35it's the Madonna and Child,
0:22:35 > 0:22:38and a copy of this picture ended up in a nunnery.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41The nuns were quite surprised when they discovered who it really is.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44It's Barbara Villiers, the King's mistress,
0:22:44 > 0:22:48holding up the King's illegitimate son as the baby Jesus!
0:22:48 > 0:22:51The audacity of this is quite something.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55Also, probably, she was pregnant again at this point,
0:22:55 > 0:22:57as Catherine clearly wasn't.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59All this drapery and the pink and the blue,
0:22:59 > 0:23:02a sort of explosion of luscious fertility.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05So that's another hold that she had over the King -
0:23:05 > 0:23:07her ability to reproduce.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10So, actually, sorry to say it, Catherine,
0:23:10 > 0:23:14it looks like the mistress holds more cards than you do.
0:23:16 > 0:23:21Barbara had sexual allure, wit, and Charles' beloved child.
0:23:21 > 0:23:26But Catherine brought a political alliance with a foreign power
0:23:26 > 0:23:28and a lucrative dowry.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32Catherine gave Charles Bombay, a foothold in India,
0:23:32 > 0:23:34the richest country in the world.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38Queen and mistress clashed head to head
0:23:38 > 0:23:40and for the first time in history
0:23:40 > 0:23:43it wasn't clear who'd come out on top.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53Catherine of Braganza discovered that the King had a mistress -
0:23:53 > 0:23:55this was Barbara - and Catherine was furious.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57She said, "Never am I going to meet that terrible woman."
0:23:57 > 0:24:00But Barbara wasn't going to give up and disappear.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03She nagged the King to make her one of Catherine's
0:24:03 > 0:24:08Ladies of the Bedchamber, some of the Queen's most intimate servants.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10But Catherine realised what was going on.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13She got the list of new ladies, she saw Barbara's name
0:24:13 > 0:24:14and she crossed her out.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18But Barbara still didn't give up.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22She came to Hampton Court and had herself introduced to the Queen.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25The Queen didn't catch the name and hadn't realised what had happened.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27When she discovered, she was furious.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30She burst into tears and she had a nosebleed.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34She complained to the King, but the King took Barbara's side.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39It was devastatingly obvious how deeply the mistress
0:24:39 > 0:24:42was embedded in the very heart of the court
0:24:42 > 0:24:44if even the Queen couldn't stand up to her.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54Now, you may think that Catherine of Braganza sounds like
0:24:54 > 0:24:57a bit of a pushover, but she did do something very important.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00She came from Portugal, a nation of tea drinkers
0:25:00 > 0:25:02because of its trading links with the Far East.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05When she came over to England for the first time,
0:25:05 > 0:25:07she had a terrible journey, she was seasick,
0:25:07 > 0:25:10she landed and said, "Please, give me a cup of tea!"
0:25:10 > 0:25:14But the English said, "What's that? We've got some beer, will that do?"
0:25:14 > 0:25:17So Catherine really popularised tea drinking.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19It changed the lives of women,
0:25:19 > 0:25:21because now they would hold tea parties,
0:25:21 > 0:25:23domestic occasions, men excluded,
0:25:23 > 0:25:26and the men were sometimes quite annoyed about this.
0:25:26 > 0:25:30So, Catherine didn't give the King of England a son,
0:25:30 > 0:25:32but she did give us our national drink.
0:25:38 > 0:25:43Charles would grow very fond of both Catherine and Barbara.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48But as his reign progressed,
0:25:48 > 0:25:51he'd also grow fond of quite a few other ladies, too.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55So fond that the mistresses began to take over the whole palace.
0:26:00 > 0:26:05This is the Palace of Whitehall as Charles inherited it in 1660.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08And the interesting thing about the geography of Whitehall Palace
0:26:08 > 0:26:12is the way that it reflects the changing geography of the court.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14People get better rooms as they climb up the ladder.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17When the King gets married, he spends a lot of money
0:26:17 > 0:26:20refurbishing rooms for his wife, Catherine of Braganza.
0:26:20 > 0:26:25There she is, quite close to him at number 23.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29But, even closer to the King, this apartment next to him, 24,
0:26:29 > 0:26:31belongs to the Maids of Honour,
0:26:31 > 0:26:34young ladies of the court, always very good-looking, we're told.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38They're supposed to be an ornament to the court - basically they're party girls,
0:26:38 > 0:26:42so I think he found that quite convenient, having access to them.
0:26:42 > 0:26:47Up here is Barbara Villiers, in a separate house on King Street.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50But as time went on and Barbara became more and more powerful,
0:26:50 > 0:26:52she was given an apartment actually in the Palace proper.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56Later, Barbara gets kind of ousted, really,
0:26:56 > 0:26:59by Louise, the French opposition.
0:26:59 > 0:27:03She gets given a vast apartment, 24 rooms up here.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06And then along comes Frances Stewart.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08The King likes her very much indeed.
0:27:08 > 0:27:14He gives her apartment 10, which is the closest yet to his own rooms.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16So, imagine you were poor old Catherine, the Queen,
0:27:16 > 0:27:19stuck in the middle here, with all these mistresses
0:27:19 > 0:27:22gradually creeping towards you down the palace corridors.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26She must have felt like she was under siege.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31With so many women invading the Palace,
0:27:31 > 0:27:35there was a constant cat fight for attention.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40So, women actually do like that tightening effect.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42Yes, it gets rid of wrinkles, right?
0:27:42 > 0:27:45- Like botox. - Yes, wrinkles like botox!
0:27:45 > 0:27:48During the Commonwealth, puritan leaders tried to pass a law
0:27:48 > 0:27:51against the wearing of make up.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53A more adventurous woman
0:27:53 > 0:27:56- would certainly paint the nipples with cochineal.- I don't fancy it.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58You've porridged me!
0:27:58 > 0:28:00'But now mistresses became masters
0:28:00 > 0:28:03'of this new and supposedly sexy art.'
0:28:03 > 0:28:08This is not lead, but it's the equivalent of lead.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11Now, women did know that lead was poisonous,
0:28:11 > 0:28:16but there was nothing as effective at covering the face.
0:28:16 > 0:28:17You've turned me into a ghost.
0:28:17 > 0:28:21Perhaps when we put the cochineal on you might be a bit more convinced.
0:28:21 > 0:28:22Which is?
0:28:22 > 0:28:27Beetle wings, first discovered by the conquistadors in Mexico
0:28:27 > 0:28:29in the early 16th century.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31To me it just looks like a horrific bruise.
0:28:31 > 0:28:32Well, it may look like that to you,
0:28:32 > 0:28:36but it may have sort of given a subliminal sexual message.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39John Evelyn, who was a bit of a serious person,
0:28:39 > 0:28:42said that now women are wearing this make-up,
0:28:42 > 0:28:44he can't tell who's a prostitute and who isn't.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47Men throughout history have always said,
0:28:47 > 0:28:49if women wear a lot of make-up,
0:28:49 > 0:28:52they're out to sort of entice men and deceive them and so on.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56Then we get writers like Margaret Cavendish,
0:28:56 > 0:28:59who I think you could describe as a proto-feminist,
0:28:59 > 0:29:01and she says it's fine to wear make-up.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04Yes, she says it's perfectly permissible for women
0:29:04 > 0:29:06to try and look beautiful, and why shouldn't they?
0:29:06 > 0:29:08Of course, the funny thing is,
0:29:08 > 0:29:13all these debates about how much make-up is OK still go on today.
0:29:13 > 0:29:14Absolutely recognisable.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17It's an argument that will run and run.
0:29:17 > 0:29:19- There?- A bit further down.
0:29:19 > 0:29:20Yes, there.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23That means passion.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38The rise of the career mistress brought with it endless intrigue.
0:29:38 > 0:29:43Wives were now openly competing with mistresses,
0:29:43 > 0:29:46husbands competing with their wives,
0:29:46 > 0:29:47and mistresses with each other.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53With all this high-profile coming and going of mistresses at court,
0:29:53 > 0:29:55you won't be surprised when you learn the name
0:29:55 > 0:29:57of Charles II's favourite dance.
0:29:57 > 0:29:59It was called Cuckold's All A-Row,
0:29:59 > 0:30:02or in other words, a line of cheated-on husbands.
0:30:02 > 0:30:06COURTLY MUSIC PLAYS
0:30:07 > 0:30:09Even something as innocent as a dance
0:30:09 > 0:30:11became an opportunity for one-upmanship.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15The interesting thing about this dance
0:30:15 > 0:30:18is that, while you're dancing with your partner...
0:30:18 > 0:30:21- Who might be the King, let's imagine.- He might well be.
0:30:21 > 0:30:23I'm actually looking into his eyes and going
0:30:23 > 0:30:27sort of to and fro with him. It's quite a promiscuous dance.
0:30:35 > 0:30:38If I was Catherine of Braganza and I was dancing here
0:30:38 > 0:30:42with my husband the King, I don't like the sound of this,
0:30:42 > 0:30:44because she might be a royal mistress,
0:30:44 > 0:30:46and she's a much better dancer than I am.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50It's all just a question
0:30:50 > 0:30:53of the vertical expression of the horizontal desire.
0:30:53 > 0:30:54I could not have put that better myself.
0:30:59 > 0:31:03It was positively perilous to stand up to a mistress.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08One respectable countess who spread nasty rumours about Barbara
0:31:08 > 0:31:10found herself out in the cold.
0:31:10 > 0:31:15At a royal dance, the lady was expecting to partner the King.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18Instead, he banished her from the court on the spot.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32At the new Restoration court,
0:31:32 > 0:31:35you'd be mad to insult Charles' mistresses.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39But here's the interesting thing - if a woman spurns Charles himself
0:31:39 > 0:31:43and refused to be his mistress, she might just get away with it.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46This is Frances Stewart.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49She comes to court, makes a huge impression and, famously,
0:31:49 > 0:31:53the King goes after her really hard, but she says no.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55She wants to get married and she has to do it secretly.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58She runs off and marries the Duke of Richmond.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00And this could have been a catastrophic error,
0:32:00 > 0:32:02he could have been furious.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04Luckily, though, he does forgive her.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08Frances' actions and Charles' response
0:32:08 > 0:32:12reveal something quite surprising about the Restoration court -
0:32:12 > 0:32:14the level of respect given to women.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18Even on the Continent, no woman upon whose door
0:32:18 > 0:32:22the French king knocked at night would be allowed to keep it closed.
0:32:24 > 0:32:26Some nosy parkers, like Samuel Pepys,
0:32:26 > 0:32:29suggested that Frances did eventually sleep with Charles,
0:32:29 > 0:32:31if only to keep the peace.
0:32:32 > 0:32:39But in public the virtuous Frances was rewarded with an unprecedented accolade.
0:32:41 > 0:32:45Whether or not Frances Stewart did finally succumb to Charles II,
0:32:45 > 0:32:48there's no doubt he found her absolutely ravishing.
0:32:48 > 0:32:50Samuel Pepys did too.
0:32:50 > 0:32:54He said that she was the most beautiful woman that he'd ever seen.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58In 1668, Charles personally selected Frances
0:32:58 > 0:33:00to be a model for the figure of Britannia.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02It was really unusual for him to choose an important,
0:33:02 > 0:33:06named courtier like this, and Britannia was to appear on a medal
0:33:06 > 0:33:09struck to celebrate peace with the Dutch.
0:33:09 > 0:33:11And this image would prove very durable.
0:33:11 > 0:33:17In 1672 it appeared again on a copper farthing of Charles II's.
0:33:17 > 0:33:19And the image will look familiar,
0:33:19 > 0:33:23because here's a 50p piece from 2006,
0:33:23 > 0:33:27still in circulation today, still with Frances Stewart.
0:33:27 > 0:33:29That's immortality for you, isn't it?
0:33:29 > 0:33:33300 years later, you can still find Charles II's beauties
0:33:33 > 0:33:35in your back pocket.
0:33:37 > 0:33:42In the open, accessible life of the Restoration Palace,
0:33:42 > 0:33:45Charles made no attempt to hide his women.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48In fact, they were becoming celebrities.
0:33:48 > 0:33:52One of their biggest fans was history's most famous diarist,
0:33:52 > 0:33:54Samuel Pepys.
0:33:55 > 0:33:59His original diaries are locked away in his own library
0:33:59 > 0:34:01at Magdalene College, Cambridge.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04Written in shorthand, they're very hard to decipher.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07Wisely so, because they're full of Pepys' sexual misdemeanours,
0:34:07 > 0:34:12as well as lascivious references to Charles' mistresses.
0:34:12 > 0:34:17Barbara alone is mentioned 184 times.
0:34:17 > 0:34:21And this one's particularly stalker-ish behaviour.
0:34:21 > 0:34:25In the code version he's left some words in clear,
0:34:25 > 0:34:30and those words are "privy garden", "Castlemaine's" and "bottoms".
0:34:30 > 0:34:32Make a sentence out of that!
0:34:32 > 0:34:34Well, if you connect them up...
0:34:34 > 0:34:37They do actually form a sentence, which is...
0:34:39 > 0:34:42OK, he's in the privy garden at Whitehall and he says
0:34:42 > 0:34:45he sees "the finest smocks and linen petticoats
0:34:45 > 0:34:49"of my Lady Castlemaine's, laced with rich lace
0:34:49 > 0:34:51"at the bottoms that ever I saw."
0:34:51 > 0:34:54And it did him good to look upon them.
0:34:54 > 0:34:56The old perv! Don't you think?
0:34:56 > 0:34:59He's looking at her underwear drying on a washing line.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03You do have to remember that underwear was much more
0:35:03 > 0:35:05uncommon then than it is now.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08These women, particularly Barbara, had quite an effect on him,
0:35:08 > 0:35:11- didn't they?- Oh, tremendous effect.
0:35:11 > 0:35:16Yes, there is the occasion when Pepys goes to the Chapel Royal
0:35:16 > 0:35:20and he's registering that there's both the Queen
0:35:20 > 0:35:24and Lady Castlemaine - amazingly - in her nightclothes.
0:35:24 > 0:35:25What happens?
0:35:25 > 0:35:30Well, "I did make myself to do the thing..."
0:35:30 > 0:35:32He did the thing? He did the thing?!
0:35:32 > 0:35:35With Lady Castlemaine and the Queen and all those people present?!
0:35:35 > 0:35:39"..by mere imagination." He experienced an emission.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42He's in the room with the Queen and Barbara Castlemaine,
0:35:42 > 0:35:44and he's got so excited that...
0:35:44 > 0:35:48- Yes, and, to his own embarrassment... - To my embarrassment, too!
0:35:48 > 0:35:50And you are blushing!
0:35:50 > 0:35:52THEY LAUGH
0:35:52 > 0:35:54Oh, deary me! Samuel Pepys!
0:35:58 > 0:36:00With a new vogue for celebrity prints,
0:36:00 > 0:36:04Pepys could even collect pin-ups of his favourite crushes.
0:36:05 > 0:36:09And this is Samuel Pepys' actual scrapbook.
0:36:09 > 0:36:13These are all of the famous faces that he decided to cut out and keep.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17This is the section where it gets really interesting.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19It's called "Ladies, et cetera."
0:36:21 > 0:36:23He's got some historical figures,
0:36:23 > 0:36:27but flipping forwards, we get to the page of the royal mistresses.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30Here they all are. We've got Barbara, Duchess of Cleveland.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33Actually, she's looking here a bit like a man.
0:36:33 > 0:36:35Almost like Charles II himself, I'd say.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39Here she is looking over her shoulder in a different pose. Lovely pearls.
0:36:39 > 0:36:42Here is Louise, the Duchess of Portsmouth.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47Now, what's new about this is not that the King had mistresses,
0:36:47 > 0:36:50this had been known before, Henry VIII et cetera,
0:36:50 > 0:36:53but now everybody knows what they looked like.
0:36:53 > 0:36:55And we've got the wrong idea about this.
0:36:55 > 0:36:58You think that horrible magazines like Heat and Closer
0:36:58 > 0:37:01were invented somehow in the late 20th century.
0:37:01 > 0:37:06Not so. This popular print culture goes right back to the 1660s.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10For the first time, cheap, printed pictures
0:37:10 > 0:37:14gave people at large a chance to leer at the rich and famous,
0:37:14 > 0:37:17and many grasped it enthusiastically.
0:37:19 > 0:37:21While all of these pin-ups were aristos,
0:37:21 > 0:37:25the most celebrated of Charles' mistresses very definitely wasn't.
0:37:28 > 0:37:30The London pad he bought for her is, ironically,
0:37:30 > 0:37:34now the site of a highly respectable gentleman's club,
0:37:34 > 0:37:39but in it is the most revealing portrait of them all.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42This is Nell Gwynn.
0:37:44 > 0:37:46And imagine the equivalent today,
0:37:46 > 0:37:50a leading member of the Royal family acknowledging a mistress,
0:37:50 > 0:37:53her being a cockney actress, having her photographed nude
0:37:53 > 0:37:58by Mario Testino, and circulating the images for everybody to see.
0:38:00 > 0:38:05Of all the mistresses, Nell remains the most iconic.
0:38:05 > 0:38:09With Barbara still on the scene, she rose from cinder girl
0:38:09 > 0:38:14to orange seller to actress and finally to become Charles' lover.
0:38:15 > 0:38:20So, this is said to be Nell Gwynn's actual fruit knife
0:38:20 > 0:38:22that she used for cutting up oranges.
0:38:22 > 0:38:24Do you believe this story?
0:38:24 > 0:38:28- I do, I'm afraid. - Don't be afraid, it's a great story.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31Well, yes, I mean, her life is as much folklore as history,
0:38:31 > 0:38:33so we have to take a lot on trust,
0:38:33 > 0:38:36but oranges were very important to her life.
0:38:38 > 0:38:40Nell was so famous that she even inspired
0:38:40 > 0:38:43her own range of mistress merchandise.
0:38:44 > 0:38:47These are brilliant, they're little outfits,
0:38:47 > 0:38:49and you can put them over the miniature of her
0:38:49 > 0:38:52to give her different costumes and looks.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55Look, we can turn that into a nun, if we want to.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58- Which one are you going to choose? - Well, how about the crown?
0:38:58 > 0:39:02Because I'm sure she must have dreamt of the crown in her wilder moments.
0:39:02 > 0:39:04'Nell's relationship with Charles
0:39:04 > 0:39:06'was the ultimate Cinderella story...'
0:39:06 > 0:39:09What's she buying in this particular bill of goods?
0:39:10 > 0:39:13'..taking her from rags to unbelievable riches.'
0:39:13 > 0:39:16This is a bill for the upholstery of her coach.
0:39:16 > 0:39:18And it has a new glass body.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21That's like the glass coach in Cinderella, isn't it?
0:39:21 > 0:39:25Where she goes to the ball, everyone could see who was inside.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28And she spent £146 on it. How much money is that today?
0:39:28 > 0:39:31- That's about £12,500 today.- Phew!
0:39:31 > 0:39:34Now, where did she get her money from?
0:39:34 > 0:39:39- She was awarded an annuity of £5,000 by the Treasury.- The Treasury!
0:39:39 > 0:39:41That's official, then,
0:39:41 > 0:39:44this is the Treasury actually giving her money on behalf of the nation.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47Absolutely, Charles would do anything for a quiet life.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50But this is actually a small sum compared to the other mistresses.
0:39:50 > 0:39:555,000 a year - I mean, Barbara was over 15,000,
0:39:55 > 0:39:59and Louise, 19,000, which is about 10.5 million in today's money.
0:39:59 > 0:40:04So this is to Mrs Eleanor Gwynn for the support of herself
0:40:04 > 0:40:07and Charles, Earl of Burford, that was her son.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10And it's also your own title, cos you are a direct descendant, aren't you?
0:40:10 > 0:40:12That's right, yes.
0:40:12 > 0:40:14She does sound like someone I would truly like to meet.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17Yes, she was a very modern character in many ways.
0:40:19 > 0:40:23The public purse gave Nell and the rest a luxury lifestyle.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26But they weren't embarrassed about it,
0:40:26 > 0:40:28they made no attempt to hide themselves away.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33- And this looks like Nell Gwynn lived here.- She did.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36Is this all her house?
0:40:36 > 0:40:38Yes, it's now three, but that was all hers, yes.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41- It was all Gwynn Towers.- Yes!
0:40:42 > 0:40:45They were happy to flaunt their riches.
0:40:45 > 0:40:50Their brash and brazen behaviour was best spotted at Newmarket,
0:40:50 > 0:40:53in the racing season - Restoration Central
0:40:53 > 0:40:56for royal playboys and playgirls.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59During these racing seasons, the King came to town.
0:40:59 > 0:41:01Who did he bring with him?
0:41:01 > 0:41:03The girls!
0:41:03 > 0:41:04Les femmes.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07The Queen came, she stayed at Audley End...
0:41:07 > 0:41:10- So, she's a little bit out of the way?- She's out of the way.
0:41:10 > 0:41:16And here, Nell, who as we know was over the road from the Palace,
0:41:16 > 0:41:20Barbara Castlemaine, Louise...
0:41:20 > 0:41:22And what else was going on in the town?
0:41:22 > 0:41:24Well, it was just pleasure, endless pleasure.
0:41:24 > 0:41:27It really was like every cliche of the Restoration, if you like,
0:41:27 > 0:41:30and it was all happening in this little town
0:41:30 > 0:41:32whose native population was 600.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36Can you imagine? And then, suddenly, this descends upon it.
0:41:36 > 0:41:37Tell me about the gambling.
0:41:37 > 0:41:39The sums were extraordinary.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42- I mean, quite a lot of it was on the horses.- That's Nell's favourite.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44Nell used to gamble on the horses, yes.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47Barbara Castlemaine had a gambling den.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49The Duchess of Mazarin had a gambling den,
0:41:49 > 0:41:53and, according to Pepys, I think on one night
0:41:53 > 0:41:58Barbara lost £25,000, which would be...
0:41:58 > 0:42:01- Is that a million pounds? - That would be more a million.
0:42:01 > 0:42:02And on another night won 15,
0:42:02 > 0:42:05so she clawed some of it back, but not nearly enough.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09We're really talking about the 17th-century Las Vegas, aren't we?
0:42:09 > 0:42:14Yes! Twice a year it became, in a way, the capital of England.
0:42:14 > 0:42:17The whole world came here.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24The excesses displayed by Charles' mistresses
0:42:24 > 0:42:27may have got him talked about and admired by some,
0:42:27 > 0:42:31but not everything that was said was pleasant.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34Just like today, celebrity was a double-edged sword.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39We've been making it sound like Newmarket
0:42:39 > 0:42:42and the whole world at the court was jolly good fun,
0:42:42 > 0:42:47but, actually, there was a nasty undercurrent to the whole thing.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49And some people were very aware of this,
0:42:49 > 0:42:52like the diarist, John Evelyn.
0:42:52 > 0:42:56He says that Charles II would have been an excellent prince,
0:42:56 > 0:42:59had he been less addicted to women.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02And Evelyn witnessed some pretty squalid scenes.
0:43:02 > 0:43:06He saw Mrs Nellie, as he calls her, the impudent comedian,
0:43:06 > 0:43:08having a bit of a ding-dong with the King,
0:43:08 > 0:43:13who walks out, leaves her, goes instead to the Duchess of Cleveland - that's Barbara -
0:43:13 > 0:43:17and Evelyn calls her "another lady of pleasure,
0:43:17 > 0:43:19"and the curse of our nation."
0:43:23 > 0:43:27By opening up the decadent world of his court, Charles also
0:43:27 > 0:43:31opened it up to unprecedented condemnation and satire.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36Only 30 years previously, the polemicist William Prynne
0:43:36 > 0:43:41had published some criticism of Charles I's wife.
0:43:41 > 0:43:43As a punishment, he had his ears cut off.
0:43:45 > 0:43:49In the Restoration, though, Charles II was probably more worried
0:43:49 > 0:43:53about keeping his own head attached than he was about a little mockery,
0:43:53 > 0:43:57something with which Lord Rochester, a leading court rake,
0:43:57 > 0:44:00was more than happy to oblige.
0:44:00 > 0:44:03So, we've got to cross the rude words out of this
0:44:03 > 0:44:05for family viewing.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07We'll have to start right at the top, I think.
0:44:07 > 0:44:11- The King of Sodom, his name is Bolloximian.- Yes.
0:44:11 > 0:44:14Bolloximian. That's got to go. We can't have the word "bollocks".
0:44:14 > 0:44:17He's out.
0:44:18 > 0:44:22Lord Rochester's not-so-subtly entitled play Sodom
0:44:22 > 0:44:24wasn't intended for the wider public,
0:44:24 > 0:44:26only for select members of the court.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29That's what makes it so outrageous -
0:44:29 > 0:44:31Rochester was being rude about the very people
0:44:31 > 0:44:35who would have read his work, including the King.
0:44:35 > 0:44:37And it's pretty strong stuff.
0:44:39 > 0:44:41- Out.- You definitely can't say the next one.
0:44:41 > 0:44:44- Her name is Queen- BLEEP- -gratia.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47Which sort of means "free c-word".
0:44:47 > 0:44:49I get what you mean.
0:44:49 > 0:44:52That's Catherine of Braganza, who was Queen of England.
0:44:52 > 0:44:53That's quite shocking, isn't it?
0:44:53 > 0:44:57This is the young prince, and his name is Prickett.
0:44:57 > 0:44:59We can't let that pass.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03- If it was a sort of hedge it would be OK, but it's not.- It's not.
0:45:03 > 0:45:07Princess Swivia, who does a bit of swiving.
0:45:07 > 0:45:10- Swiving, yes, which is- BLEEP.
0:45:10 > 0:45:11Yes. She's got to go.
0:45:11 > 0:45:15The general of the army is called...
0:45:15 > 0:45:18Immature, I know. His name is Buggeranthus.
0:45:18 > 0:45:20That's James, Duke of York.
0:45:20 > 0:45:22Lover of buggery?
0:45:22 > 0:45:26It's sort of acceptable, today, is it? Bugger?
0:45:26 > 0:45:29You old bugger? It sounds a little bit like a plant, to me.
0:45:29 > 0:45:31Don't you think?
0:45:31 > 0:45:33Maid of honour called...
0:45:33 > 0:45:36- BLEEP- -adilla. - Is that Barbara?- That is Barbara.
0:45:36 > 0:45:37It's got to go.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40Clitoris - now that's just medical, isn't it?
0:45:40 > 0:45:42It is, you might say like 'cly-tor-is'.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45That's Louise, Duchess of Portsmouth.
0:45:45 > 0:45:46That is the French mistress.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49I think that'll cause sniggers in the fifth form, that's got to go.
0:45:49 > 0:45:52We've lost nearly all of our characters as being too rude, I'm afraid.
0:45:54 > 0:45:58This may all sound like smutty, juvenile filth,
0:45:58 > 0:46:02but the play was actually a biting satire on the times.
0:46:02 > 0:46:06Sodom, the title of the piece, refers to the biblical city,
0:46:06 > 0:46:10whose population was punished for their lewd behaviour.
0:46:10 > 0:46:15Writing it in 1680, following on from the plague
0:46:15 > 0:46:18and the Great Fire of London, Rochester was implying
0:46:18 > 0:46:22that Restoration England had suffered the same fate.
0:46:23 > 0:46:26All because of the antics of Charles and his court.
0:46:30 > 0:46:33Let's see Rochester's lasting epitaph for the King.
0:46:33 > 0:46:37Yeah, this is, in fact, a satire on the King,
0:46:37 > 0:46:42and in essence the King wrought his kingdom as his sexual desires would.
0:46:42 > 0:46:45So, there's a beautiful little phrase here,
0:46:45 > 0:46:50"His sceptre and his..." there's a dash, "..are of equal length."
0:46:50 > 0:46:53- We know that means- BLEEP, - his sceptre and his- BLEEP
0:46:53 > 0:46:56are of a length, which is quite a compliment to the King, really.
0:46:56 > 0:46:59- He's saying he's got a big one.- Yes.
0:47:01 > 0:47:05It's a brilliant piece of political insight, though, as well,
0:47:05 > 0:47:08because as we know, if you wanted political favours
0:47:08 > 0:47:10if you wanted access, intimacy with the King,
0:47:10 > 0:47:13you went through one of his favourite mistresses.
0:47:13 > 0:47:18- So, in one sense this statement is absolutely right.- It's true.
0:47:20 > 0:47:25Even by Restoration standards, it's incredible that Rochester
0:47:25 > 0:47:28got away with little more than a slap on the wrist.
0:47:28 > 0:47:33But he was a court insider, and Charles, ever the Merry Monarch,
0:47:33 > 0:47:35saw the funny side of things.
0:47:37 > 0:47:43Even so, Rochester's bawdy satires contained a very dangerous truth.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47Charles' women weren't just powerful in the bedroom.
0:47:47 > 0:47:51They were beginning to redefine the route through
0:47:51 > 0:47:53the very corridors of power.
0:47:54 > 0:47:56So, this is where the security begins.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59Yes, this is where we at least have to be well-dressed,
0:47:59 > 0:48:01Almost anybody can get into this first room,
0:48:01 > 0:48:04the King's guard chamber, which is packed with people
0:48:04 > 0:48:06waiting to see who's coming to the court and who's not.
0:48:06 > 0:48:08It's basically celebrity watching.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11'Before the Restoration, official court businesses
0:48:11 > 0:48:15'was conducted front of house, with strict and public protocol.'
0:48:15 > 0:48:21Look at all of these guys. We have checkpoints going on and on.
0:48:21 > 0:48:23And you can see the layers and layers.
0:48:23 > 0:48:26So, we will only get through if we're really important.
0:48:26 > 0:48:28If we're a member of the King's close household
0:48:28 > 0:48:31- or one of his ministers or counsellors.- Thank you very much.
0:48:31 > 0:48:33It reminds me of being at the airport, actually,
0:48:33 > 0:48:36and going through all the different security procedures.
0:48:36 > 0:48:40You get the sense of penetrating further and further in.
0:48:40 > 0:48:44So, this is the top of the tree, it's the King's private closet.
0:48:44 > 0:48:46This is where the King might do business,
0:48:46 > 0:48:49look over papers, sign them, that kind of thing.
0:48:49 > 0:48:51It's the heart of government, if you like.
0:48:51 > 0:48:55Yes, but it's also where the King's public and private worlds meet.
0:48:55 > 0:48:59So, we have what appears to be this very plain wall, luxurious.
0:48:59 > 0:49:05But this hidden gib door which links the King's public and private world.
0:49:05 > 0:49:08The secret door going to the secret STAIRS.
0:49:08 > 0:49:12It's a real contrast, isn't it, to the grand, formal, painted front stairs?
0:49:12 > 0:49:15Yes, it's nothing like as magnificent, but these are far more important.
0:49:15 > 0:49:17This is where people are coming to meet the King
0:49:17 > 0:49:20that he has decided are the people he wants to see.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23- Including women.- Absolutely, including his mistresses.
0:49:23 > 0:49:25So, they have astonishing political power,
0:49:25 > 0:49:28but they can't be seen to be influencing the King,
0:49:28 > 0:49:32so this backstairs system allows for them to come and go,
0:49:32 > 0:49:35gives them status and allows them to operate politically.
0:49:35 > 0:49:38And it's almost the same that we have today.
0:49:38 > 0:49:40So you might go and formally visit Downing Street
0:49:40 > 0:49:43and drive up the front and be received in the downstairs,
0:49:43 > 0:49:48public rooms, or you might go and have dinner with the Camerons
0:49:48 > 0:49:50upstairs in the flat.
0:49:50 > 0:49:53So, it's the same arrangement, and both are vital,
0:49:53 > 0:49:56but the King can partly rule and control
0:49:56 > 0:49:59by balancing these two public and private worlds.
0:49:59 > 0:50:02I love the fact that this backstairs, it's not impressive,
0:50:02 > 0:50:04it looks like you're not supposed to see it, really,
0:50:04 > 0:50:08but, actually, it's one of the most important bits of the whole Palace.
0:50:08 > 0:50:11Absolutely, it's the glue that holds the whole thing together.
0:50:13 > 0:50:17The network of backstairs allowed Palace intrigue to flourish.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23Behind the scenes whispers and bribes
0:50:23 > 0:50:26had always played a part in court politics.
0:50:26 > 0:50:31But "backstairs politics" was now coined as a phrase.
0:50:31 > 0:50:33It was no secret that the mistresses
0:50:33 > 0:50:35were it's most skilful operators.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41If you were able to use the backstairs,
0:50:41 > 0:50:44it gave you a real edge in court politics.
0:50:44 > 0:50:47Mistresses like Barbara didn't want to just get into the King's bed,
0:50:47 > 0:50:50they wanted to get his attention, ask him for favours,
0:50:50 > 0:50:54and this is what made them so powerful, politically.
0:50:54 > 0:50:58Barbara even brought down the Earl of Clarendon, the Lord Chancellor.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01A hugely important figure in court politics,
0:51:01 > 0:51:04but she wanted the King to get rid of him, and he did.
0:51:05 > 0:51:08The result was that the Earl of Clarendon
0:51:08 > 0:51:09hated Barbara with a vengeance.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12He couldn't even bring himself to use her name.
0:51:12 > 0:51:16He would just referred to her, rather sneeringly, as "the lady".
0:51:19 > 0:51:23People recognised that finding favour with a mistress could be
0:51:23 > 0:51:28a powerful political move, not just at home, but abroad.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31The power and the influence that these mistresses have
0:51:31 > 0:51:33is quite widely acknowledged.
0:51:33 > 0:51:37The best example of this, perhaps, is Louise de Kerouaille, the French mistress.
0:51:40 > 0:51:44She's actually planted in the British court by the King of France.
0:51:44 > 0:51:47He wants to increase French influence at the British court.
0:51:47 > 0:51:50He uses his secret weapon, he sends in Louise,
0:51:50 > 0:51:54because he knows she's going to catch the eye of Charles II.
0:51:55 > 0:51:59As the prominent politician Lord Halifax complained,
0:51:59 > 0:52:03Charles lived with his ministers, as he did with his mistresses.
0:52:03 > 0:52:06He treated them all the same way.
0:52:07 > 0:52:12The political power of the mistresses brought its own risks.
0:52:12 > 0:52:16The inner court circle had long been quietly disgusted that women
0:52:16 > 0:52:19could bring down a member of the government
0:52:19 > 0:52:21or influence the King on foreign policy.
0:52:21 > 0:52:23But gradually, their criticism was spread more widely
0:52:23 > 0:52:27through the flourishing popular press.
0:52:27 > 0:52:29What's the significance of this little bit of paper?
0:52:29 > 0:52:32It's a pamphlet, it's a new mode of communication.
0:52:32 > 0:52:36A huge, new form of media of the 17th century?
0:52:36 > 0:52:37You could absolutely say that.
0:52:37 > 0:52:40It's making public information that wasn't available in print before,
0:52:40 > 0:52:43and that makes it available to a much broader readership.
0:52:43 > 0:52:47So, we have a big, new class of people in the later 17th century,
0:52:47 > 0:52:50who are not at the top of society, they're in the middle of it,
0:52:50 > 0:52:53but they have views on the King, on the courtiers, on the government.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56Yeah, and that view begins to matter.
0:52:56 > 0:52:58Politicians, MPs, begin to be conscious
0:52:58 > 0:53:01of their representation in the press.
0:53:01 > 0:53:04So, this is a dialogue between the Duchess of Portsmouth,
0:53:04 > 0:53:07who's Louise, the French mistress, and Madame Gwin,
0:53:07 > 0:53:09which is a fancy way of saying Nell Gwyn.
0:53:09 > 0:53:15Louise is not well, and the pamphlet kind of celebrates her departure
0:53:15 > 0:53:18because of what's seen as an inappropriate,
0:53:18 > 0:53:21French, Roman Catholic influence upon the King.
0:53:21 > 0:53:25Well, Nell Gwyn is saying, "You've had to go away cos you've got the pox."
0:53:25 > 0:53:27That's not the smallpox, that's the great pox, isn't it?
0:53:27 > 0:53:29- Venereal disease.- Absolutely.
0:53:29 > 0:53:33This is my favourite bit - Nell Gwyn says to Louise, the French mistress,
0:53:33 > 0:53:36that she's, "A Jezebel of pride and malice,
0:53:36 > 0:53:39"whose father had a hog sty for his palace."
0:53:39 > 0:53:41And then Nell says,
0:53:41 > 0:53:45"In my clear veins best British blood does flow,
0:53:45 > 0:53:48"While thou like a French toadstool first did grow."
0:53:48 > 0:53:51She says that she sprung up like a mushroom.
0:53:51 > 0:53:54Calls her a "Mushroom-Duchess", sprung up in the night.
0:53:54 > 0:53:58And she's got ulcers of venereal disease, which is why she's fleeing back to France.
0:53:58 > 0:54:01So, it's pretty clear that Nell is good, Louise is bad.
0:54:01 > 0:54:08Yes, I think the press isn't very kindly to women on the whole.
0:54:08 > 0:54:13Gwyn says, "fame that never yet spoke well of woman".
0:54:13 > 0:54:17The press is mostly written by men and read by men,
0:54:17 > 0:54:20and femininity in this is actually a figure
0:54:20 > 0:54:23for malign influence upon the government.
0:54:25 > 0:54:27By the latter half of the 17th century,
0:54:27 > 0:54:30pamphlets were widely and cheaply available
0:54:30 > 0:54:35in the fashionable new hothouses for political debate - coffee shops.
0:54:38 > 0:54:40As circulation increased, the mistresses
0:54:40 > 0:54:45and the King himself came under increasingly ferocious
0:54:45 > 0:54:47and personal attacks from anonymous hacks.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54Now, some of these pamphlets got pretty close to the bone.
0:54:54 > 0:54:59In 1668, London's traditional Shrove Tuesday riots
0:54:59 > 0:55:04got out of hand and they burnt down lots of brothels.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07This is a spoof petition from the prostitutes
0:55:07 > 0:55:09whose business had been damaged,
0:55:09 > 0:55:14and they've addressed it to "The most splendid, illustrious,
0:55:14 > 0:55:16"serene and eminent lady of pleasure,
0:55:16 > 0:55:18"the Countess of Castlemaine."
0:55:18 > 0:55:19That's Barbara.
0:55:19 > 0:55:22Now, I'm sure this made everybody laugh,
0:55:22 > 0:55:24it's got a modern, tabloidy ring to it,
0:55:24 > 0:55:29but it was dangerous for Barbara to be addressed as Britain's top prostitute.
0:55:29 > 0:55:33The King was furious about it, and of course the implication is
0:55:33 > 0:55:37that the Palace of Whitehall is the biggest brothel of them all.
0:55:40 > 0:55:41Charles was under threat.
0:55:41 > 0:55:44For the first time, the monarchy faced tabloid criticism
0:55:44 > 0:55:46of a palpably modern sort.
0:55:46 > 0:55:50But Charles was equally modern in his response -
0:55:50 > 0:55:53he became his own spin doctor,
0:55:53 > 0:55:57and the Merry Monarch proved to be a very cunning king.
0:56:00 > 0:56:04Clearly, this hostility towards the mistresses was risky for the King,
0:56:04 > 0:56:08but he was also quite good at exploiting it for his own purposes.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11Sometimes he would play off one mistress against another,
0:56:11 > 0:56:15and sometimes he would use them to send out political messages.
0:56:15 > 0:56:17For example, if he was out with Louise,
0:56:17 > 0:56:20the French Catholic one, and people said, "Oh, no, she's French,"
0:56:20 > 0:56:24he would sometimes bring with him British Nell, too.
0:56:24 > 0:56:26This cancelled it out and made it OK.
0:56:28 > 0:56:32By ignoring the comments or spinning them to his own advantage,
0:56:32 > 0:56:36Charles defeated the critics and he remained on the throne
0:56:36 > 0:56:39for nearly 25 years, until his natural death,
0:56:39 > 0:56:43the longest reigning 17th-century monarch.
0:56:43 > 0:56:46And remarkably, his mistresses survived with him.
0:56:47 > 0:56:53When Charles died in 1685, his last words were said to have been,
0:56:53 > 0:56:55"Let not poor Nelly starve."
0:56:55 > 0:57:00Her popularity ensured that, for the two remaining years of her life,
0:57:00 > 0:57:03she went on receiving a state pension.
0:57:03 > 0:57:07Although Louise remained a favourite during Charles' lifetime,
0:57:07 > 0:57:10she didn't fare so well after his death.
0:57:10 > 0:57:13Her assets were stripped from her and she retired back to France.
0:57:13 > 0:57:15Well, she WAS French.
0:57:15 > 0:57:19And as for Barbara, although she'd been the first,
0:57:19 > 0:57:23the most formidable, the most durable Restoration mistress,
0:57:23 > 0:57:28by the time of his death she'd been sidelined for several years.
0:57:28 > 0:57:33As one of her enemies said, "You, too, Madam, will grow old."
0:57:33 > 0:57:36But we don't have to feel too sorry for Barbara,
0:57:36 > 0:57:39she still had her title, security for her children,
0:57:39 > 0:57:43and the King give her one last job - he made her keeper of Hampton Court Palace.
0:57:43 > 0:57:46It's not a bad little pad for your retirement.
0:57:51 > 0:57:55They really impress me, these Restoration women.
0:57:55 > 0:57:59They were a new type of woman, who could only have come forward
0:57:59 > 0:58:04in the maelstrom melting pot of the 1660s.
0:58:06 > 0:58:08In the next programme, I'm going to be looking at
0:58:08 > 0:58:12the lives of women at home, behind closed doors...
0:58:12 > 0:58:14- It is very, very...- It's explicit!
0:58:14 > 0:58:16THEY LAUGH
0:58:17 > 0:58:22..when ordinary women were defined as either maids, wives or widows.
0:58:22 > 0:58:27How did the extraordinary twists and turns of the 17th-century affect them?
0:58:27 > 0:58:30And what happened if they stepped out of line?
0:58:30 > 0:58:32MUFFLED SHOUTING
0:58:53 > 0:58:57Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd